EEE 4853: Cellular Communication Network Architecture

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering UMTS (3G) and LTE (4G) network architectures, components, and protocol stacks based on the Cellular Communication lecture notes.

UE

User Equipment, which consists of the USIM (UMTS Subscriber Identity Module) and the ME (Mobile Equipment).

UTRAN

UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network; it handles all radio-related functionality including soft handover and Radio Resources Management algorithms.

Node B

The base station element within the UTRAN architecture.

RNC

Radio Network Controller; a component of UTRAN that controls one or more Node Bs.

RNS

Radio Network Sub-system; formed by the grouping of one RNC and one or more Node Bs.

MSC

Mobile Switching Centre; responsible for switching Circuit Switched (CS) transactions.

VLR

Visitor Location Register; holds a copy of the visiting user’s service profile and the precise information of the UE's location.

GMSC

Gateway MSC; the switch that connects the cellular network to external networks.

SGSN

Serving GPRS Support Node; performs functions similar to the MSC/VLR within the Packet Switched (PS) Domain.

GGSN

Gateway GPRS Support Node; performs functions similar to the GMSC within the Packet Switched (PS) Domain.

HLR

Home Location Register; stores master copies of users' service profiles and UE location on the level of MSC/VLR/SGSN.

CS Domain

Circuit Switched Domain; includes circuit switched services and signaling, requiring resource reservation at connection setup.

PS Domain

Packet Switched Domain; utilizes GPRS components like SGSN and GGSN.

EPS

Evolved Packet System; refers to the evolution of 3GPP UMTS Radio Access and Packet Core, including both E-UTRAN and SAE.

E-UTRAN

Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network; a flat architecture consisting only of the eNodeB base stations to reduce nodes and latency.

eNodeB

The base station in LTE/4G E-UTRAN that enables a flat network architecture.

SAE

System Architecture Evolution; refers to the non-radio aspects of the 4G evolution, including the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).

EPC

Evolved Packet Core; includes major components such as P-GW, S-GW, MME, HSS, PCRF, and EIR.

MME

Mobility Management Entity; a major component of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).

S-GW

Serving Gateway; a component in the EPC that connects to the eNodeB via the S1-U interface.

P-GW

PDN Gateway; a component in the EPC that connects the network to external IP services via the SGi interface.

HSS

Home Subscription Server; a central database in the EPC architecture.

PCRF

Policy Control and Charging Rules Function; an EPC component used for policy control.

X2 Interface

The interface used for communication between two eNodeBs in the E-UTRAN.

S1 Interface

The interface connecting an eNodeB to the EPC (specifically MME and S-GW).

NAS

Non-Access Stratum; a control plane protocol stack layer between the UE and the MME.

RRC

Radio Resource Control; a control plane protocol layer between the UE and the eNodeB.

PDCP

Packet Data Convergence Protocol; a protocol layer present in both the user and control plane stacks of LTE.

GTP-U

GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane; used on S1-U and S5/S8 interfaces in the LTE user plane protocol stack.